Anne Reynolds

Gender Equity in Industrial Engineering: A Pilot Study

We report on findings from a pilot study focused on the Industrial Engineering Department at University of Oklahoma where gender equity has been achieved. The study identifies factors that may contribute to gender parity in engineering and science fields.

The construction of abstract units in geometric and numeric settings

The main thesis of this paper is that the construction and coordination of abstract units is central to mathematical activity in both numerical and geometric settings. Data were gathered from students in grade three through six, with four students being observed over a three year period. A consistent parallel was found in the sophistication of the types of units constructed in a geometric setting (tiling the plane) with their numeric activity. The tiling activity of the students was analyzed for evidence of the construction and coordination of units. Some students constructed rather sophisticated abstract composite units to facilitate their tiling with a particular shape while others had difficulty making a covering. Students who constructed abstract composite units in tiling did so also in adding and subtracting whole numbers. Evidence of unitizing and coordinating the units constructed was associated with advances in mathematical thinking. Unitizing seems to be a fundamental mental operation in coming to act mathematically. As mathematics activities are planned, it is important to provide opportunities for students to construct abstract composite units in both geometric and numeric settings. Emphasis on prescribed procedures such as subtracting with two-digit numerals may inhibit this construction process.

How do Social Interactions Among Children Contribute to Learning

The question we are concerned with makes the assumption that interactions between students in the social setting of the school do contribute to the learning of individual students. This assumption is itself controversial in that the predominant model for the teaching of mathematics, in the United States at least, has been one of explain and practice, with, as Romberg and Carpenter (1986) document, the teacher assuming a role that is managerial or procedural. Research studies by Slavin et al. (1985), Webb (1989), and others have emphasized the cooperative learning environment with students working in small groups; however the predominant view of the student’s role in the learning setting has been one which militates against this environment. The student continues to be viewed as in need of “ practice” of teacher demonstrated procedures Small groups which may be established in the classroom are frequently seen as opportunities for more able peers to tutor those in need of further practice in these procedures rather than as opportunities for students to interact collaboratively as they construct their mathematical ideas.